Lubricating system.



S. T. ARNOLD. LUBRIGATING SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.-8, 1911.

Patented Mar. 25, 19 1.3.

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I INVENTOR ,saflerlee Jfflrnold WTESSES:

his ATTORNEY SA'ITERLEE T. ARNOLD, 0F CLEVELAND,

OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE STANDARD SEWING MACHINE COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND,OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

LUBRICA'IING SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed September 8, 1911.

Patented Mar. 25, 1913. Serial No. 648,302.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SATTERLEE T. ARNOLD, citizen of the United States,and resident of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State anduseful Improvements in Lubricating Systems, of'which the following is aspecification.

The principal object of this invention is powermeans for lubricating toprovide, in connection with a transmitting device, a bearing in such amanner that the journal surfaces will be kept thoroughly oiled, and atthe same time spattering of oil over surrounding objects and portions ofthe mechanism, due to centrifugal action or other causes, will beprevented. In order to accomplish these results an oil-conveying meansis employed which includes as one of its main elements a wick orequivalent .device for conveying oil from a suitable source of supply tothe surfaces to be lubricated, the transmission of the oil being due insuch case to capillary action. At a suitable point or points, adjacentto each bearing to which oil is supplied by the mean just described,means will be provided for catching surplus oil that exudes from eachbearing and return-.

ing it to circulation. The means preferably employed for catching andreturning this oil is a combined oil-guard and catch-basin,

which will usually completely surround the opening through which the 011exudes from the bearing, the construction being such thatv the guardwill lie in the path of all oil that may be thrown off from the hearing,by

centrifugal force or otherwise, and restore this surplus oil tocirculation, either by delivering it directly into contact with the wickitself or by delivering it into an oil.- supply cup in which a portionof the wick is preferably immersed.

Other features of the invention will be hereinafter described andclaimed and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which aFigure l is an enlarged rear elevation of the transmitting deviceproper, detached from the sewing machine table. Fig. 2 is a horizontalsection of the same, the section being taken in line 22 of Fig. 1,looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectionof a portion of the same, the section being taken in line 33 of Fig. 2,looking in the direction of the arrows,

of Ohio, have invented certain new' and illustrates the manner in whichthe wick cooperates with the oil-guard and catch-basin located at themeeting faces of the driving and driven pulleys. Fig. 4 is a similarview, the section being taken in line 4-4c of Fig. 2, looking in thedirection of the arrows, and illustrates the manner in which the extremeend of the wick is held at the terminal oil-guard and catch-basin andhow it cooperates therewith. Fig. 5 is a detail, illustrating in centrallongitudinal section the central oil-guard and catch-basin at themeeting faces of said pulleys and the manner in which it cooperatestherewith. Fig. 6 is a similar view, illustrating the terminal oil-guardand catch-basin and the manner in which it cooperates with the drivingpulley at the outer. face thereof.

Similar reference characters designate like parts in all the figures ofthe drawings.

The driving pulley 4, which is illustrated as of the type ordinarilyemployed for transmitting power to sewing machines, has three steps orfaces of different diameters for driving the machine. at correspondinglydifferent speeds. This driving pulley 4 in the type of driving mechanismillustrated constitutes one of a pair of cooperative rotary members, theother of which is indicated at 5, and is in this case the driven memberof a friction-clutch to which driven membermotion is imparted in awellknown manner by the driving member 4.

.Here both of these rotary members are mounted for rotation on a shaft6, which is fastened at its opposite ends in a frame-- work in somesuitable manner, it being illustrated as secured at its opposite ends bymeans of set screws, such as 7 and 8, in the lower ends of a main hangeror bracket 9 and a small bracket 10, the main bracket 9 depending, as isusual, from the under side of a table, while the bracket 10 is securedat its upper end to a bearing 12, extending endwise from the hanger 9.These two brackets, with the bearing 12 and the fixed shaft 6 held inplace by the set screws 7 and 8, constitute a practically rigid framefor carrying the principal operative parts of the power-transmittingdevice. In this transmitter the lubrication of the bearings is effectedby conveying oil from a suitable supply reservoir through a wick orequivalent device to the journal surfaces of the parts. At 13 a wicksuitable for conveying oil by capillary action ply to these surfacesconstruction shown,

this wick rests in a longitudinal groove, such as 14-, in the shaft 6,and in certain other grooves and passages that will be referred tolater. One end of the wick is usually immersed in the oil-supplyreservoir and from this point, in the normal operation of the device,oil is led by capillary action to the various surfaces to be lubricated.Any suitable type of device may be employed as an oil-reservoir. Thatshown is in the form of an attachment to the bracket 9, this attachmentincluding an oil-supply cup or pan, such as 15, and a guard, such as 16,for covering the driving and driven pulleys at the points thereofnearest the operator.

The principal novel feature of the lubricating means is the provision ofa suitable device or devices for receiving surplus oil that exudes fromeach bearing and restoring it to circulation for use at some other pointWhere oil is needed. In the preferred construction, a catch-basin isemployed for receiving this surplus oil, and this catch-basin is toadvantage combined with an oil-guard in such a manner that the oil-guardsurrounds the opening through which oil is likely to exude, and thesurfaces from which oil is likely to be thrown ofi by centrifugalaction, the parts being so constructed and organized that this oil willbe prevented from coming in contact with anything except the journalsurfaces and the lubricating and protective devices. Each of thesecombined catch-basins and oil-guards is in the present construction anannular member surrounding the adjacent cheek or cheeks of the rotarymember or members and inclosing it or them in such a manner as toprevent oil from dropping or being thrown off onto the work or ontoparts of the machine outside the'oil-guards and catch-basins. \Vhen thedevices are employed as illustrated herein, in connection withpower-transmitting apparatus, these combined catch-basins and oil-guardsare usually three in number, one serving to protect the outer end of thehearing of the driven pulley, another the outer end of the bearing ofthe driving pulley, and the third the inner ends of both of saidbearings. These three combined catch-basins and oil-guards aredesignated respectively by 17 18 and 19. Each has means for catching thesurplus oil at the point protected by it and each also has means forreturning the oil so caught to the circulation system. In their generalfeatures these three devices may be substantially similar inconstruction, though as shown they vary somewhat in specific details.The first, to wit, 17 is illustrated as being integral with the lowerportion or bearing of the hanger 9 and as of annular form. It also hasan oil outlet, as shown at 20, immediately above the oil-supply cup 15,this oil outlet serving to return to the main supply the surplus oilthat exudes from the right-hand end of the powertransmitting device. Thedevices 18 and 19 are illustrated as annular members separate from theother parts and are located on the shaft 6 at suitable points in fixedrelation with said shaft. The device 18 constitutes a duplex, combinedoil-guard and catch-basin and is located immediately adjacent to themeeting faces of the driving and driven pulleys 4t and 5. As mostclearly shown in Fig. 5, said device 18 has two undercut or V-shapedannular grooves 21 and 22, constituting, respectively, catch-basins foroil exuding from the juxtaposed bearings for the pulleys at and 5. Theoverhanging, undercut walls of these annular catch-basins alsoconstitute oil-guards for catching any oil that may be thrown off in anydirection from the adjacent bearings of either rotating pulley bycentrifugal force. In order that the surplus oil caught in the twocatchbasins may be returned to the circulation.

system, the two catclrbasins are shown (see Fig. 5) as preferablyconnected at the bottom of the device 18, as by intersecting obliquelybored openings 23 and 2 k, and as having a common oil-outlet at 25through the periphery of the device 18, around which latter in aposition opposite the said oil-outlet 25 is passed the wick 13, theobject of which is to cause the wick to take up the surplus oil caughtin the duplex catch-basin and restore it to circulation for use at otherpoints. In order that the wick may be properly led around the peripheryof the device 18, a web portion of said device is preferably formed witha radial bore, as shown at 26,

.through which the wick is led from the shaft 6 to the periphery of thedevice 18, and then given one turn around the periphery of the latter,and then led down again through said bore back into the longitudinalgroove of the shaft 6, the construction being such that the oil outlet25 is covered by the wick, as shown in Fig. 5.

The last catch-basin, 19, is formed in substantially the same manner asthe device 18 by an undercut groove 27, the undercut wall of which alsoconstitutes an oil-guard for catching any surplus oil thrown off bycentrifugal force. At the bottom thereof this catch-basin also has anoutlet, as shown at 28, which is illustrated as intersecting aperipheral notch 29, into which the extreme end of the wick is looped,as shown in Fig. 1, to hold it in place. Thus surplus oil caught by thiscatch-basin is also taken up by the wick 18 and restored to the circulartion system. As the opposite end of the wick 13 is shown as immersed inthe oil supply contained in the cup 15, it will be clear that capillaryaction will cause the oil to be drawn from said cup and led to all thejournal surfaces of the power-transmitting device; that any surplus oilexuding from any bearing, or thrown off by centrifugal force, will becaught by some one of the various catch-basins, and that any surplus socaught will be returned at some one of those points to the circulationsystem and led by capillary action in one direction or another,according to the needs of diiferent portions of the journal surfaces;these devices thus operating automatically to maintain a substantiallyequalized supply of oil at every point requiring lubrication.

What I claim is 1. In a power-transmitting device, the combination witha shaft having a longitudinal groove, of a rotary member journaled onsaid shaft, an oil-conveying wick seated in said groove for lubricatingthe bearing of said member, means for supplying oil-to one portion ofsaid wick for circulation, and means including a catch-basin independentof said oil supply cup for receiving surplus oil that exudes from saidbearing and restoring it to circulation, by

returning the same to another portion of said wick.

2. In a power-transmitting device, the combination with a shaft, of arotary member journaled on said shaft, an oil-conveying wick forlubricating the bearing of said member, an oil supply cup in which aportion of the wick may be immersed, a catchbasin for receiving surplusoil that exudes fro-m said bearing, said catch basin having an outlet inposition for delivering said surplus oil to an immediately adjacentportion of the wick and so restoring it to circulation.

8. In a power-transmitting device, the combination with a shaft, of apair of rotary members journaled on said shaft, an oilconveying wick forlubricating the bearings of said members, an oil supply cup inwhich aportion of said wick dips, means including a catch-basin common to'saidbearings for receiving surplus oil that exudes from the bearings, andmeans to return said surplus oil to another portion of said wick.

4. In a power-transmitting device, the combination with a shaft, of apair of rotary members journaled on said shaft in juxtaposition, anoil-conveying wick for lubricating the bearings of said members, andmeans including a catch-basin located at the meeting faces of saidrotary members for receiving surplus oil that exudes from both of saidbearings, said catch-basin having an oil-outlet in position fordelivering said surplus oil to an adjacent portion of the wick and sorestoring it to circulation.

5. In a power-transmitting device, the combination with a shaft, of arotary member journaled on said shaft, an oil-conveying wick forlubricating the bearing of said member, means for supplying oil to oneportion of said wick for circulation, and means including an annularcombined oil-guard and catch-basin for receiving surplus oil that exudesfrom said bearing and restoring it to the other portion of said wick forfurther circulation.

6. In a power-transmitting device, the combination with a shaft, of apair of rotary members journaled on said shaft in juxtaposition, anoil-conveying wick for lubricating the bearings of said members, andmeans including an annular combined oilguard and catch-basin surroundingsaid shaft at a point adjacent to the meeting faces of said rotarymembers for receiving surplus oil that exudes from both of saidbearings, said combined oil-guard and catch basin having an oil-outletin position for delivering said surplus oil to a portion of the wickwhich is immediately adjacent said outlet and so restoring it tocirculation.

7. In a power-transmitting device, the combination with a shaft, of arotary member journaled on said shaft, an oil-conveying wick forlubricating the bearing of said member, means for supplying oil to saidwick for circulation, and means including an annular undercut combinedoil-guard and catch-basin for receiving surplus oil that exudes fromsaid bearing and restoring it to circulation.

8. In a power-transmitting device, the combination with a shaft, of apair of rotary members journaled on said shaft in juxtaposition, anoil-conveying wick for lubricating the bearings of said members, andmeans including an annular undercut combined oilguard and catch-basinsurrounding said shaft at a point adjacent to the meeting faces of saidrotary members for receiving surplus oil that exudes from both of saidbearings and restoring it to circulation.

9. In a power-transmitting device, the combination with a shaft, of arotary member journaled thereon, an oil conveying wick for lubricatingthe bearing of said member, means including a catch-basin for receivingsurplus oil that exudes from said bearing, said catch-basin providedwith a radial outlet, and said wick having a portion immediatelyadjacent said outlet to restore the surplus oil in said basin tocirculation.

10. In a power transmitting device, the combination with a shaft, of apair of rotary members journaled thereon in juxtaposition, an oilconveying wick for lubricating the bearings of said members, meansincluding a catch-basin located at the meeting faces of said rotarymembers for receiving surplus oil that escapes from both of saidbearings, said catch-basin having a radial outlet, and said wick havinga portion passed circumferentially around said catch-basin and incontact With the oil in said basin at the said surplus oil may escape,and means assooutlet. ciated with said outlet to return the surplus 11.In a power transmitting mechanism, oil to circulation. the conibinatlonWith a shaft, of a rotary Signed at Cleveland, in the county of Y 5member journaled on said shaft, means for Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio,this 31st day 15 lubricating the bearing of said member, an of August A.D. 1911.

annular combined oil guard and catch basin SATTERLEE T. ARNOLD. forreceiving surplus oil that exudes from Vitnesses: said bearing, saidcombined oil guard and CHAS. G. EMMoNs,

-10 catch basin having an outlet through which S. K. BRINEY.

I Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

